Shaking her head—her father was right, she really was naïve—she got out of the car, and her heart started beating faster. His scent was all over this place, old and new. When she turned away from the car, she caught sight of a figure by the closed doors of an elevator at the far end of the parking lot. Ramon. She knew him even from this distance. She was pretty sure she’d know him in the pitch dark with her nostrils plugged. The mate bond sang to her.
Mate,her lion said, nodding its approval.
She smoothed down her skirt as she strode across the lot and couldn’t quite keep the grin from her face as she approached him. Ramon’s answering smile made her belly flutter. He was so handsome—unbelievably so. His square jaw had just a trace of dark stubble, and his shirt pulled tight across his shoulders, giving a hint of the broad muscles beneath. Her lion purred in satisfaction.
Mine.
“Hey,” she greeted him, walking right up into his personal space.
“Hey, yourself.”
He reached for her, his arms sliding around her back. He pulled her up against the hard lines of his body and she went to him willingly, sliding her hands over his shoulders. It felt like the most natural thing in the world to do and when he leaned forward and kissed her, her lips molded to his as if they’d been doing so for years.
The kiss was infinitely more than a friendly peck on the lips and when Ramon opened his mouth to deepen it, she parted her lips to allow his tongue entrance. When his hands slid down to grip the cheeks of her ass, she shivered. How could her body ache for the touch of someone she’d only just met? It didn’t make any sense, but at the same time, it made perfect sense. She’d felt desire for men before, even been in love, but none of them had been her mate. She’d been right to wait for him. What she’d felt before was just a faint echo of what she felt now. This was meant to be. It had nothing to do with her family or his and everything to do with what they were to one another—soul mates. Two bodies, two hearts, but one shared soul.
When they finally broke apart, they were breathing heavily, and Ramon’s eyes had shifted to their bird form as hers had shifted to her cat’s. Then her eyes zeroed in on his lips and the drop of blood she saw there. She gasped.
“Oh my gosh, did I cut you? I’m so sorry.”
She hadn’t realized until then that her incisors had lengthened, and they were incredibly sharp. She’d have to be more careful.
Ramon, who was wearing a sappy grin she couldn’t help but find adorable, reached up and swiped the drop of blood away with his finger.
“Oh, this? It’s nothing.”
She sighed dreamily. “That was one hell of a greeting.”
His grin broadened. “Wasn’t it?”
“I hate to spoil the moment but, my brother?”
“Oh, right. He’s just getting a bit of a talking to by my team leader then he’ll be down. All charges have been dropped.”
She nodded. “Good. Well, not good exactly. It would serve my brother right to spend some time in jail, but I don’t want my father to dislike you anymore than he already does.”
Though she was pretty surethatwasn’t possible.
Ramon sighed. “I doubt my parents will be thrilled when they hear the news, either. According to dad, the Brown family is the root of all evil.”
“Funny, my dad says the same thing about the Miguels.” She shook her head. “Stupid damn feud.”
“Isn’t it? Do you know what started it?”
Saffy shook her head. “Not exactly. Dad told me once that it was something to do with his father’s sister getting killed and that a Miguel was responsible, but he would never tell me the full story. I don’t think he even knows it.”
“It was to do with my grandfather’s brother,” Ramon said. “Or at least, so my father says. They were in love, but my father said neither family was happy about their relationship because of their different species.”
Saffy leaned in a closer, riveted to finally hear the details of what had started the argument between their families. “Go on.”
“Well, apparently both sets of parents had forbidden them to see one another anymore, but they refused to listen and carried on seeing one another in secret.”
“Okay.”
A rumble of trepidation churned in her stomach. So far, it sounded like her own story, except they hadn’t even had a grudge to contend with. Did it mean her own relationship with Ramon was doomed?
Ramon squeezed her hand, like he knew the thoughts that were plaguing her, and one side of his mouth lifted in a small, sad smile that made her heart flutter. They wouldn’t repeat the mistakes of the past, whatever they were. They’d find a way to be together.
“They were in my great uncle’s car one night when they saw her brother, your grandfather, in a car with his friends. They were in a rush to get away so that they wouldn’t be found out, and my uncle’s car skidded on a wet patch. He lost control and wrapped the car around a tree.”
